“It’s perfectly clear we won’t be buying more power if we can’t get our product to market,” says one official in the Alberta government.

As Premier Rachel Notley sat down Thursday with the prime minister and her provincial colleagues in Vancouver, she continued to press the case that Alberta needs to get its oil to tidewater so it can find new export markets.

Without it, Canada’s energy companies will continue to sell their crude at steep discounts, particularly as more oilsands production comes on stream in the next few years.

This discount will cost the provincial and federal governments billions of dollars in lost taxes and revenues, as well as lost jobs.

After the meeting, Notley told reporters she raised the issue with the other first ministers, and was pleased they agreed market access matters should be dealt with on an urgent basis.

“Basically, right now, we’re leaving about a third of our potential profit on the table because of our inability to get different pipelines to different markets. That’s not just an Alberta problem but a Canadian problem,” she said.

But there are plenty of opponents stacked against the concept, from concerned environmentalists and First Nations to municipal and provincial officials who don’t want new pipelines.

Market access has become a prime objective for the NDP government.

One Calgary oilpatch player says the government has “found religion” over the issue, particularly as oil prices have plummeted and the province faces the bleak prospect of a $10-billion deficit in its next budget.

Notley has been extolling the economic benefits for the country of infrastructure projects such as Energy East, which would move Western Canadian crude to New Brunswick for export, as well as the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion that would move Alberta oil to the west coast.

The premier said she pressed her point with her colleagues in Vancouver, both in private sit-downs and in the general gathering with the prime minister and premiers.

On Wednesday, Notley had a separate meeting with Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard. She followed it up Thursday with private sessions with Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne and New Brunswick Premier Brian Gallant.

Notley’s press secretary, Cheryl Oates, acknowledged Alberta’s premier and Clark haven’t had an official bilateral session since the NDP leader won last May’s provincial election, although they’ve chatted at larger gatherings of premiers.

And that brings us to B.C. and its power plans.

In July 2012, Clark imposed five conditions upon any new heavy oil pipelines in her province, including that B.C. gets its fair share of the economic benefits for assuming the potential risks of such developments.

In January, her Liberal government formally came out against the Trans Mountain expansion, saying proponent Kinder Morgan wasn’t providing enough details on its emergency response program to deal with potential oil spills.

Relations between the B.C. and Alberta governments have been increasingly shaky.

Last month, B.C’s Liberal government repeatedly used Alberta’s financial woes as a cautionary tale of how not to run an energy-producing province during a boom.

Up until now, all Alberta could do was play the role of conciliator in the market access fight, asking for reason to prevail once all the facts were assessed by the National Energy Board, which is reviewing both Energy East and Trans Mountain.

Finally, Alberta may have something else up its sleeve: leverage.

British Columbia is in the midst of building its new $8.8-billion Site-C power project in the province’s northeast near Fort St. John. It wants to sell electricity to Alberta.

Clark also is seeking Ottawa’s support to build a new $1 billion intertie power line between Alberta and B.C., allowing her province to move more power into Alberta’s grid.

All this, I might add, despite the fact electricity imports from B.C. have dropped by 90 per cent since 2012. However, Clark’s pitch comes as Alberta plans to phase out its coal-fired power plant fleet by 2030.

“Alberta has promised to get off coal, finally. We can help them with energy so they can find a way to shut those coal plants,” Clark told The Canadian Press last month.

So how does the Alberta government feel about such help, buying electricity from an uneasy — and, at times, unhelpful — western neighbour?

In a statement, Alberta Energy Minister Marg McCuaig-Boyd said the government is committed to replacing most of the coal-fired power with renewable electricity from Alberta, although it will examine its options.

“We’ll do what’s best for Albertans and Alberta’s economy. We won’t be buying more power if we can’t get our resources to market,” the energy minister concluded.

Oates clarified the position holds for all provinces, not just British Columbia, because Alberta simply won’t need to buy more electricity if it’s unable to get its ample petroleum supplies to the coast.

So Alberta wants — actually, needs — market access.

B.C. wants to sell electricity to Alberta.

And Alberta may have finally found a pressure point in this tussle on which to make its case.

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